Aerosol characterization and pulmonary responses in rats after short-term inhalation of fumes generated during resistance spot welding of galvanized steel

Publication date: Available online 22 February 2017 Source:Toxicology Reports Author(s): James M. Antonini, Aliakbar Afshari, Terence G. Meighan, Walter McKinney, Mark Jackson, Diane Schwegler-Berry, Dru A. Burns, Ryan F. LeBouf, Bean T. Chen, Mohammad Shoeb, Patti C. Zeidler-Erdely Resistance spot welding is a common process to join metals in the automotive industry. Adhesives are often used as sealers to seams of metals that are joined. Anti-spatter compounds sometimes are sprayed onto metals to be welded to improve the weldability. Spot welding produces complex aerosols composed of metal and volatile compounds (VOCs) which can cause lung disease in workers. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=12/treatment group) were exposed by inhalation to 25mg/m3 of aerosol for 4hours/day x 8days during spot welding of galvanized zinc (Zn)-coated steel in the presence or absence of a glue or anti-spatter spray. Controls were exposed to filtered air. Particle size distribution and chemical composition of the generated aerosol were determined. At 1 and 7days after exposure, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed to assess lung toxicity. The generated particles mostly were in the submicron size range with a significant number of nanometer-sized particles formed. The primary metals present in the fumes were Fe (72.5%) and Zn (26.3%). The addition of the anti-spatter spray and glue did affect particle size distribution when spot welding galvanized steel, whereas they had no effect o...
Source: Toxicology Reports - Category: Toxicology Source Type: research